There may have been skeptics about Arkansas Tech's 6-0 record heading into Saturday's game because of a lack of a quality opponent.

The Wonder Boys silenced their critics for now as 15th-ranked Tech picked up a crucial 35-29 victory over No. 20 Delta State before a homecoming crowd of 6,235 at Buerkle Field.

It marks the first time the Wonder Boys (6-0, 5-0) have gone this far in a season undefeated since Steve Mullins has been head coach. It also allowed Tech to keep pace with Valdosta State atop the Gulf South Conference standings after the Blazers defeated Henderson State 27-18 in Arkadelphia.

"It's a wonderful feeling because it simply gives us a chance to be 7-0 next week," said Mullins, who missed most of the first half. "There's not many teams that enjoy that feeling this late in the season. And this was a quality win against a quality opponent."

It wasn't an easy one, even though the Wonder Boys led 35-16 after Marcus Godfrey scored on a 6-yard run with 4:38 remaining. Delta State (3-3, 3-2) answered with Scott Eyster throwing touchdown passes of 50 yards to Chad Ridley at the 3:02 mark and 20 yards to Robert Davis with 33 seconds left.

The Statesmen then recovered the onside kick on their 45 to give them a chance for a remarkable comeback. Eyster, however, was sacked on first down by Cedric Cursh for a 2-yard loss, and he was forced to spike the ball with 11 seconds left because Delta State had no time outs remaining.

That gave Eyster, who finished the game completing 25 of 46 passes for 316 yards, one last chance for a heave toward the end zone. LaMarcus Irvin, however, knocked the ball down inside the Tech 10 as time expired.

Tech took a 21-17 halftime lead on Josh Rogers' 2-yard touchdown pass from Jason Campbell with 20 seconds before intermission, then both teams battled through a scoreless third quarter. The two squads exchanged punts early in the fourth quarter, and Tech was facing a fourth-and-1 on its 47 when the Wonder Boys elected to gamble and go for the first down.

Campbell appeared to have the first down on a quarterback sneak, but a referee's whistle blew. Mullins had called a time out that was given to Tech before the play started.

The Wonder Boys lined up again, only to have a new play called. Campbell faked to fullback Chris Johnson and tossed the pitch to freshman tailback R.J. Vanhook, who bolted all the way to the end zone. Mark Ewersmann added the extra point, extending the Wonder Boys' lead to 28-16 with 7:47 remaining.

"I had called the time out, and the play we had called appeared to be just fine," Mullins said. "But we came back, and coach (offensive coordinator Todd) Cooley had called a different play. It was huge because we had been battling with them throughout the second half, and we needed to get some distance from Delta State."

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Eyster tried to throw a pass to standout receiver Ellis DeBrow. Linebacker Brett Hobbs, however, hit the Statesmen quarterback's arm, causing the ball to go shorter than expected, and Cedric Flemons intercepted the ball at the Wonder Boys 48 with 7:31 remaining.

Another possible turning point came three plays later, when Tech tried to catch Delta State off-guard with a reverse to Michael Crooks, who lost the ball when he was hit. The Statesmen thought they had recovered a fumble, but there was a penalty flag thrown on the play.

The call was an illegal batting of the ball by a Delta State player while it was on the ground, giving Tech new life with a first-and-5 at the Statesmen 32. Four plays later, Godfrey hit paydirt with his touchdown.

Tech had a disastrous start to the game after forcing Delta State to punt on its first possession when Crooks dropped the ball, giving it back to the Statesmen on the Wonder Boys 31. Delta State then marched to the 6 before Tech's defense stiffened, and Trey Crum's 24-yard field goal made it 3-0 with 11:40 left in the first quarter.

The score remained that way until the second play of the second period when Campbell avoided a sack and fired toward a wide-open Crooks in the end zone. The pass was underthrown, but Crooks came back to the Delta State 5, hauled in the pass and waltzed back into the end zone to complete the 43-yard scoring strike, with Ewersmann's PAT making it 7-3 with 14:03 remaining.

Delta State answered, marching 64 yards in eight plays to regain the lead. Jason Snell, who did most of the Statesmen's ground duties after Arkansas transfer Radale Pearson injured his shoulder in last week's 51-48 loss to Valdosta State, went untouchdown on a 5-yard touchdown run, and Crum's kick put Delta State ahead 10-7 with 11:02 left in the first half.

Tech, however, retaliated with a seven-play, 84-yard march for a score, with Campbell hitting Rogers with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 8:21 before halftime. Rogers caught the ball near the Delta State 10, broke away from a tackler and dove, stretching the ball past the goal line before his knee hit the ground.

Delta State came right back with its version of a scoring drive. The Statesmen, aided by a pass interference call in the end zone, drove 90 yards in 13 plays, with Eyster hitting Davis with a 6-yard touchdown toss. Crum, however, had his extra-point attempted blocked by Hobbs, leaving Delta State with a 16-14 lead with 3:24 left in the first half.

That was plenty of time for Tech to get another shot at scoring. Campbell hit Caldwell with a 24-yard pass to move the ball into Delta State territory, then again on an 11-yard toss to put the ball at the Statesmen 27 with 35 seconds left.

Delta State was flagged for back-to-back pass interference calls, with the second one giving the Wonder Boys a first-and-goal on the 2. On the next play, Campbell went to his right and hit Rogers for the touchdown, and Ewersmann's kick wound up helping Tech take a lead it never relinquished.

"We came into the game with a philosophy that we had to be aggressive both on offense and defense," Mullins said. "We knew we had to take some chances - calculated chances - in order to beat a team that is nationally ranked like Delta State.

"I thought the defense did an outstanding job. We're talking about a unit that had 600-plus yards last week, and we did an outstanding job. Holding them to a field goal after giving them a turnover, that gave our defense a boost."

Until Delta State's wild comeback attempt in the game, Campbell actually outplayed his Statesmen counterpart, completing 21 of 35 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He threw passes to seven different receivers, with Rogers' seven catches for 101 yards leading the way, while Vanhook led the Wonder Boys' ground attack with 117 yards on 13 carries, followed by Godfrey with 69 yards on 13 carries.

Delta State, whose second straight loss virtually knocks the Statesmen out of the running for a GSC championship and playoff berth, was heled to 44 yards total offense. Davis had 10 catches for 126 yards to lead the Statesmen's receiving corps, while Snell had a team-high 87 yards rushing on 24 carries.

Tech returns to Gulf South Conference action next weekend when the Wonder Boys travel to Arkadelphia and face Ouachita Baptist at A.U. Williams Field. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.